FEATURE: The US Senate and House of Representatives passed President Trump's bill to defund public media. The bill will strip away vital funds for a number of Colorado based public radio stations, and will affect Kvnf yearly operations budget. KVNF Senior Reporter Lisa Young spoke with KVNF Station Manager Ashley Krest on how the cuts will affect the station serving over 10,000 square miles on Colorado's Western Slope. You can read the interview transcript here.
Montrose County News: Montrose County commissioners appointed former Commissioner David White as the interim county manager. White, a local businessman, also served as a Montrose City Council member and mayor. He was elected as county commissioner in November 2007 and served in that capacity for two terms. He was approved on a 2-1 vote during an executive session last week. Commissioner Sue Hansen was the lone vote against White’s interim appointment. White replaces the former interim county manager, Leslie Quon, who remains as the county’s human resources director. Quon abruptly left the interim role July 6, in a letter stating she felt targeted for retaliation. More on this story can be found at montrosepress.com
Montrose County Commissions declared a local disaster emergency over three wildfires affecting Montrose County in terms of air quality, safety and threatened structures, and with an eye to being prepared to address what can come after. The declaration – valid for seven days, and subject to extension — is intended to “unlock” the county’s emergency operations plan and other resources.
WILDFIRE UPDATE: The Sowbelly Fire burning in the Escalante-Dominguez Canyon in Mesa, Delta and Montrose counties reached 50 percent containment as of last Friday. That fire is at roughly 2,500 acres. While good news, we remind listeners that fire containment is measured by the percentage of a wildfire's perimeter that has been surrounded by a control line, indicating the extent to which the fire's spread is prevented, however, it doesn't necessarily mean the fire is extinguished.
As fires rage across the country, federal wildfire officials recently raised the national Preparedness Level to 4. If things get more intense, that could mean calling on the military and other countries for help. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Murphy Woodhouse has more.
